Tough Decision

DallasStar · Jul 9, 2002, 03:00 PM

Guys, I want to buy 2 things, but I don't have enough money for both of them. Help me pick which one to buy.

Choice 1: A new OCZ Goliath Heatsink & Fan with CPU Shim & Arctic Silver (vs stock cooling running @ 55-60 C).

Choice 2: An addon for my soundcard that will enable me to have full spdif & optical inputs and outputs.

Benefits of each:

With the Goliath, I can hopefully quiet down my pc from my horrible 6000rpm fan which still can't manage to lower my temps lower than 53C (I am hoping that I can get my idle temps down to 38-43C). Also, I can solve many of the instability issues I sometimes get and my pc will nolonger act as a heater for my room (I live in Texas.... heaters are my worst enemies

).

With the soundcard addon, I can get full dolby digital decoded sound for my Playstation 2 games and also any other device that supports dolby digital output. This will make my games soooo much more fun. Also, I will be able to get rid of that ANNOYING hiss that comes with my soundcard's line-in input when connecting outside stereo devices. The only problem with this is that it doesn't come with an optical cable so I'll have to wait until I get more money to buy one to use it

....

Both of these cost approximately 40 USD. (yeah, I know I sound like a cheap bastard, but I'm only 15 w/ limited cash & no job & no allowance...)

JavaFox · Jul 9, 2002, 03:58 PM

You're only 15? Whoa, dude, you speak with intelligence and maturity generally unassociated with those under 20.

At any rate, I would buy the HSF and thermal compound. A stable PC is paramount; towards this end, you should sacrifice everything else.

Might I make a few suggestions, though?

As far as the compound goes, you know how I feel about it, so I won't bother repeating myself. It's good stuff, and you got a good deal on it, so bleh, go for it.

CoolMasters' HHC-001, a heat-pipe equipped all-copper cooler, performs just as well as the OCZ Goliath, according to Dan and is, at 26 dollars, nine dollars cheaper than the OCZ Goliath (NewEgg). Skip the shim --because a little prudence eliminates the need for one-- and save yourself a coupl'a more bucks.

You should, then, have $15-$20 left, which is more than enough for a movie date.*

---

* JavaFox offers no guarantee --expressed or implied-- that this date will go well, or that the girl will be interesting, cute, or even tolerable.

Yeti · Jul 9, 2002, 04:06 PM

Eh... i'd go for an alpha heatsink if i were you... stick a 120 to 80mm adapter on there and a nice 120v ac fan and you've got a wind tunnel

But seriously i don't think you will be needing that spdif if your cpu is overheating ... :/ :shrug:

~~David~~ · Jul 9, 2002, 04:22 PM

i second the alpha 8045 dang good heatshink

Malus · Jul 9, 2002, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JavaFox
You're only 15? Whoa, dude, you speak with intelligence and maturity generally unassociated with those under 20.

Since when do the majority of people under happen to be immature and stupid? I'm somewhat offended, being one of the many denizens of this forum who is not of the proper age.

Anyway, I'd go and buy the heatsink. No point in buying the ports if your computer can't even run long enough to use them. You could always beg your parents for money, or make a deal with them. You never know, it could work.

DallasStar · Jul 9, 2002, 05:14 PM

With my money, I can't afford an alpha.

The coolermaster is 26 w/ 4dollars shipping. The Goliath is 28 w/ free shipping. I'll stick with the Goliath. The shim is 4 bucks free shipping & the arctic silver is 4 bucks free shipping (c'mon, the 4 bucks isn't killing anyone...

)

Quote:

You're only 15? Whoa, dude, you speak with intelligence and maturity generally unassociated with those under 20.

(I appreciate the kind comment Javafox)

DallasStar · Jul 9, 2002, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Malus
Since when do the majority of people under happen to be immature and stupid? I'm somewhat offended, being one of the many denizens of this forum who is not of the proper age.

Anyway, I'd go and buy the heatsink. No point in buying the ports if your computer can't even run long enough to use them. You could always beg your parents for money, or make a deal with them. You never know, it could work.

I'm having to beg my father to even let me spend MY OWN money. He thinks I'll "break the computer" and is also pissed that I'll be using his credit card. Good luck to me in borrowing money....

GravY · Jul 9, 2002, 06:08 PM

Cool that rig down!!

JavaFox · Jul 9, 2002, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Malus
Since when do the majority of people under happen to be immature and stupid? I'm somewhat offended, being one of the many denizens of this forum who is not of the proper age.

Offended? Well, don't be. I'm only 18 myself, and the 13-16 year olds I know do not exhibit the kind of maturity, intelligence, and verbal prowess that dallasstar does. Those things are not inherent to being young, but, like I said, I don't typically see them in younger individuals that I know.

Ryoko · Jul 10, 2002, 02:33 AM

i know people 10 years older than dallasstar, but they act 20 years younger. for all that took offence at javafox's post, don't. you are all well above average maturity wise than others in your age group. don't think i know? i'm barely 20 and most of my friends act like they're 5.

Ryoko · Jul 10, 2002, 02:35 AM

oh, and go with the cpu cooler. it won't cool your room down, but it'll keep your cpu at more stable temps. also, keep the side cover of your computer off, and keep the room between 70f and 75f, and your cpu should idle at around 45c if not less.

GravY · Jul 10, 2002, 05:34 AM

If cooling is done right with your setup, your system should stay cooler with the side on rather than off... My system is 2-3 degrees celcius cooler with my side in place..

I have a Chieftec case.. two fans drawing air in through the front.. Two pulling in on the side.. one is ducted and drops air just above the HSF, the other pulls air in to the Video card, but both are set up not to disrupt the flow from the front of the case to the back.. then I have Two fans pulling out on the back as well as the psu fan.. this setup for me works well.. I just have to finalize it cause it still in the testing configuration, meaning the side fans are held on by tape as well as the ducting tube..

Ryoko · Jul 10, 2002, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GravY
If cooling is done right with your setup, your system should stay cooler with the side on rather than off... My system is 2-3 degrees celcius cooler with my side in place..

I have a Chieftec case.. two fans drawing air in through the front.. Two pulling in on the side.. one is ducted and drops air just above the HSF, the other pulls air in to the Video card, but both are set up not to disrupt the flow from the front of the case to the back.. then I have Two fans pulling out on the back as well as the psu fan.. this setup for me works well.. I just have to finalize it cause it still in the testing configuration, meaning the side fans are held on by tape as well as the ducting tube..

i'd hate to have to sleep in the same room as that beast...

digitalwanderer · Jul 10, 2002, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GravY
If cooling is done right with your setup, your system should stay cooler with the side on rather than off... My system is 2-3 degrees celcius cooler with my side in place..

I have a Chieftec case.. two fans drawing air in through the front.. Two pulling in on the side.. one is ducted and drops air just above the HSF, the other pulls air in to the Video card, but both are set up not to disrupt the flow from the front of the case to the back.. then I have Two fans pulling out on the back as well as the psu fan.. this setup for me works well.. I just have to finalize it cause it still in the testing configuration, meaning the side fans are held on by tape as well as the ducting tube..

Slap some PowerPuff stickers on it and it sounds like it would look like one of my systems.

Appearance should always take a back seat to performance! (Well, at least for me.

)

Malus · Jul 10, 2002, 07:23 AM

Understood.

By the way, I'm happily 17 years old at the moment.

GravY · Jul 10, 2002, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by digitalwanderer
Slap some PowerPuff stickers on it and it sounds like it would look like one of my systems.

Appearance should always take a back seat to performance! (Well, at least for me. )

Questioning the Powerpuff girls stickers..

crazy overclock · Jul 10, 2002, 09:27 AM

It sickens me up to death to see people judging your degree of maturity based on your age:
Frankly I used to work at a company where the youngest employee over my departement was me, all the other guys ranged from 32 to 51 yrs. I thought I would always sound stupid and dumb as my 20 yrs can't stand the comparaison, however I was wrong, yes I was wrong as most of them happen to joke/talk like any teen would do.
Sure they act as adults as soon as the manager or a customer shows up( for the sake of their jobs,nothing else)but the rest of the time it's like I'm talking with people from my generation.
Moral of the story: Never underestimate what a young guy have to say, he sometimes might show greater level of intelligence/maturity than most of us

Jul 9, 2002, 03:00 PM	#1
DallasStar Junior Join Date: May 2002 Location: Wave Existence Posts: 2,065 Rep Power: 0	Tough Decision Guys, I want to buy 2 things, but I don't have enough money for both of them. Help me pick which one to buy. Choice 1: A new OCZ Goliath Heatsink & Fan with CPU Shim & Arctic Silver (vs stock cooling running @ 55-60 C). Choice 2: An addon for my soundcard that will enable me to have full spdif & optical inputs and outputs. Benefits of each: With the Goliath, I can hopefully quiet down my pc from my horrible 6000rpm fan which still can't manage to lower my temps lower than 53C (I am hoping that I can get my idle temps down to 38-43C). Also, I can solve many of the instability issues I sometimes get and my pc will nolonger act as a heater for my room (I live in Texas.... heaters are my worst enemies ). With the soundcard addon, I can get full dolby digital decoded sound for my Playstation 2 games and also any other device that supports dolby digital output. This will make my games soooo much more fun. Also, I will be able to get rid of that ANNOYING hiss that comes with my soundcard's line-in input when connecting outside stereo devices. The only problem with this is that it doesn't come with an optical cable so I'll have to wait until I get more money to buy one to use it .... Both of these cost approximately 40 USD. (yeah, I know I sound like a cheap bastard, but I'm only 15 w/ limited cash & no job & no allowance...) __________________ "A picture of my existence... would show a useless wooden stake covered in snow... stuck loosely at a slant in the ground in a ploughed field on the edge of a vast open plain on a dark winter night." --- Franz Kafka

Jul 9, 2002, 04:06 PM	#3
Yeti DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 662 Rep Power: 0	Eh... i'd go for an alpha heatsink if i were you... stick a 120 to 80mm adapter on there and a nice 120v ac fan and you've got a wind tunnel But seriously i don't think you will be needing that spdif if your cpu is overheating ... :/ :shrug: __________________ --Oh lord not again

Jul 9, 2002, 06:08 PM	#8
GravY Master Shake Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Michigan Posts: 199 Rep Power: 0	Cool that rig down!! __________________ Amd 2400+ @ 2415mhz 11.5x210, Vantec Aeroflow, 512mb Pc3200 5-2-2-2, 9500np->9700 [color=red]17697[/color] 3dmark2k1 [color=red]5630[/color] 3dmark03, Epox 8rda+ Mobo, WD Special 8mb cache 80gig, Plex 48/24/48

Jul 10, 2002, 05:34 AM	#12
GravY Master Shake Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Michigan Posts: 199 Rep Power: 0	If cooling is done right with your setup, your system should stay cooler with the side on rather than off... My system is 2-3 degrees celcius cooler with my side in place.. I have a Chieftec case.. two fans drawing air in through the front.. Two pulling in on the side.. one is ducted and drops air just above the HSF, the other pulls air in to the Video card, but both are set up not to disrupt the flow from the front of the case to the back.. then I have Two fans pulling out on the back as well as the psu fan.. this setup for me works well.. I just have to finalize it cause it still in the testing configuration, meaning the side fans are held on by tape as well as the ducting tube.. __________________ Amd 2400+ @ 2415mhz 11.5x210, Vantec Aeroflow, 512mb Pc3200 5-2-2-2, 9500np->9700 [color=red]17697[/color] 3dmark2k1 [color=red]5630[/color] 3dmark03, Epox 8rda+ Mobo, WD Special 8mb cache 80gig, Plex 48/24/48

Jul 10, 2002, 07:23 AM	#15
Malus BSD SMASH! Join Date: May 2002 Location: A rabbit hole. . . Posts: 1,170 Rep Power: 0	Understood. By the way, I'm happily 17 years old at the moment. __________________ quad (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel Q6600 - Asus P5E-VM HDMI - 2x2 GB Kingston PC6400 DDR2 Ram - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - 2xSeagate 1TB 7200RPM HD in RAID 1 via ZFS - Lite-On 20x DVD Multi Recorder - Coolermaster Centurion 5 router (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel E4500 - Intel D945GCNL - 2 GB PC6400 Mushkin Ram - Lite-On 48x24x48x16 - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - Silverstone SST-SG02-F wanderer (FreeBSD/i386 7-CURRENT): Lenovo Thinkpad T61p mini (OS X 10.5): Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8Ghz, 4 GB Mushkin PC5400 Ram - Headroom MicroDAC Portable sound: Rockboxed iPod Video -> Westone UM2's Not-So-Portable Sound: Headroon MicroDAC -> Singlepower PPX3-SLAM -> Grado RS-1's or Beyerdynamic DT-880's Very-Not-Portable-Sound: Squeezebox v3 -> Denon AVR-1507 -> B&W 683's & Sunfire HRS-10

Jul 9, 2002, 03:58 PM	#2
JavaFox E Pluribus Unum Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 3,203 Rep Power: 0	You're only 15? Whoa, dude, you speak with intelligence and maturity generally unassociated with those under 20. At any rate, I would buy the HSF and thermal compound. A stable PC is paramount; towards this end, you should sacrifice everything else. Might I make a few suggestions, though? As far as the compound goes, you know how I feel about it, so I won't bother repeating myself. It's good stuff, and you got a good deal on it, so bleh, go for it. CoolMasters' HHC-001, a heat-pipe equipped all-copper cooler, performs just as well as the OCZ Goliath, according to Dan and is, at 26 dollars, nine dollars cheaper than the OCZ Goliath (NewEgg). Skip the shim --because a little prudence eliminates the need for one-- and save yourself a coupl'a more bucks. You should, then, have $15-$20 left, which is more than enough for a movie date.* --- * JavaFox offers no guarantee --expressed or implied-- that this date will go well, or that the girl will be interesting, cute, or even tolerable.

Jul 9, 2002, 04:22 PM	#4
~~David~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Location: Atlanta Posts: 959 Rep Power: 0	i second the alpha 8045 dang good heatshink

Jul 10, 2002, 02:33 AM	#10
Ryoko American Soldier Join Date: May 2002 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 1,725 Rep Power: 0	i know people 10 years older than dallasstar, but they act 20 years younger. for all that took offence at javafox's post, don't. you are all well above average maturity wise than others in your age group. don't think i know? i'm barely 20 and most of my friends act like they're 5.

Jul 10, 2002, 02:35 AM	#11
Ryoko American Soldier Join Date: May 2002 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 1,725 Rep Power: 0	oh, and go with the cpu cooler. it won't cool your room down, but it'll keep your cpu at more stable temps. also, keep the side cover of your computer off, and keep the room between 70f and 75f, and your cpu should idle at around 45c if not less.

Jul 10, 2002, 09:27 AM	#17
crazy overclock Java programmer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 125 Rep Power: 0	It sickens me up to death to see people judging your degree of maturity based on your age: Frankly I used to work at a company where the youngest employee over my departement was me, all the other guys ranged from 32 to 51 yrs. I thought I would always sound stupid and dumb as my 20 yrs can't stand the comparaison, however I was wrong, yes I was wrong as most of them happen to joke/talk like any teen would do. Sure they act as adults as soon as the manager or a customer shows up( for the sake of their jobs,nothing else)but the rest of the time it's like I'm talking with people from my generation. Moral of the story: Never underestimate what a young guy have to say, he sometimes might show greater level of intelligence/maturity than most of us